Self introduction

[Hoosier]

I saw your guys message on chowhound and thought this sounds like a
great idea. I lived most of my 20's overseas (Japan, Spain and
Mexico), and picked up a ton of different food interests and would
love to meet up with others in Orlando interested in world cuisine. I
don't consider myself much of a "foodie" as such because I like good
street food just as much as somewhere fancy, and am not too particular
about indredients if something tastes great.

Anyway, I'll stay posted to this forum and look forward to the first
meeting.

Cheers
Tom

[starbucksbrew]

Hi! My husband and I are the same way. We just like good food,
regardless of how much it costs or where it comes from. I am excited
about this group.

[Hoosier]

Great! Some suggestions I have to start are dim sum or Japanese. My
favorite Japanese restaurant in town is probably Hanamizuki, but I am
not very familiar with the north side of town so I may be missing some
places. I was reading in the Orlando Weekly about an Izakaya that
opened in Apopka (I think that's where it was), and, if true, would be
a fantastic place to meet up at. For those of you not aware, an
izakaya is kind of a Japanese pub- a loud, boisterous restaurant where
you go with friends to sit on tatami mats, drink cold beer and order
lots of yummy food to share. Its kind of like tapas in this regard.
Anyway, that's my two cents.

[William Hayden]

Well - we have a start - let's see if we can get few more and then we'll plan a specific time. If not, we'll go and have fun, write about it, and then they'll want to come to the next one.

I love Hanamizuki, but there's another newer place right by Universal called Wa that is a real hidden gem - does a sort of Japanese fusion thing with some also authentic options and a big sake selection. I can also get us 20% off there. I think the izakaya is in Altamonte Springs not Apopka - love that style too as we enjoyed a great one in Vancouver and also in a place called Hiro's Yakko-San in Miami. I think it is called Toshi. Dragonfly opens in a month on Sand Lake and it also proclaims to be an izakaya.

One other option I've been dying to try - I've heard some good things about Nile Ethiopian on I-Drive. I've never had Ethiopian before and I think it would make a good communal meal.

Couple other thoughts were Ravenous Pig for a true foodie meal, Magic Wok for authentic Shanghai Chinese, and maybe Anatolia for Turkish or Cedar's for Lebanese.

Any other ideas?

Bill

[Hoosier]

All of your ideas sound great Bill. I've been wanting to go to the
Ravenous Pig for a while now, and I'm always interested in trying
different Chinese regional cooking styles.

A couple of other places we could try are Le Coq au Vin for French and
Shin Jung for authentic Korean barbecue.

But I think that Ethiopian would be a great first place for everyone
to meet up. It's a fun thing to do as a group because it involves
lots of sharing and eating with this spongy flat bread called injera.
Surely it would give us plenty of things to discuss!

[starbucksbrew]

Any of those sound great to me! I hope we end up getting around to all
of them. We are in Longwood, but we don't mind driving to the south
part of town too.

Ashley

[Hoosier]

Do you guys want to set a date for us to meet up? I just started
reading the new Anthony Bourdain book and I'm itching to go out and
eat!

> > > >>> Tom- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[meg comins]

I haven't been a part of the discussion but I'm interested in meeting up. I just moved to Orlando from Tampa last week and am looking forward to exploring the area. wherever is fine with me and my social calendar is a bit slow so most nights are good.

[Ricky Ly]

Sadly I can not make it until after July as I will be in Hong Kong for a short vacation. Please have a great time and let me know how things go! Hopefully I can join you all when I return. Happy chowing!

--
Sincerely,

Ricky L
tastychomps.com

[meg comins]

Ricky, I just checked out your blog...it's great...and I became a facebook fan.

 

Meg